


The Meeting Of Everett Grey

by tsukibimu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, St Mungos, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 22:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7407277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukibimu/pseuds/tsukibimu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whilst Arthur lies in St Mungo's following Nagini's attack, Remus Lupin strikes up a conversation with the other occupant of his ward, one Everett Grey, who is bitter after being bitten by a werewolf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Meeting Of Everett Grey

As Molly and Arthur began to argue - admittedly it being more Molly reprimanding Arthur for his more recent display of blunt idiocy when concerning himself with Muggle things - Remus quietly drifted away. He’d been around Molly Weasley enough the past year to know that he didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. Although her legendary anger had never been directly aimed towards him, she had been frosty in the beginning and he’d been present on several occasions when she’d completely lost it - particularly at Fred and George.  
So Remus slipped away, moving to the bed across from Arthur and looking at the man residing in it. He started when Remus approached and the ex-professor didn’t miss the slightly wistful look that had been upon his face as he subtly watched Arthur and his visitors across the room. Remus recalled Arthur telling him that the poor man had been bitten by a werewolf and out of compassion and sheer curiosity, not to mention he didn’t really have anywhere else to g0, Remus moved to stand next to his bed, offering a polite smile.  
“Happy Christmas,” he said and the man stared at him for a minute before replying.  
“Same to you,” he said in a disgruntled tone, “you here for Weasley?” He jerked his head towards Arthur, who was cowering slightly as Molly screeched at him about stitches. Remus grinned at them.  
“Yes, but he’s gotten himself into hot water and Molly’s a force to be reckoned with. Thought I’d better clear out.”  
The man smiled, but seemed to realise he’d done so a minute later and wiped the look from his face.  
“Everett Grey,” the man said, by way of introduction, running a hand through his light blonde waves and falling back on his pillows a little. “Nice to meet you, I guess.”  
Remus smiled, “I return the sentiment, of course. I’m Remus Lupin.” He held out his hand and Everett shook it hesitantly. “How long have you been here?” He asked and Everett’s face went dark.  
“Too long,” he growled, looking annoyed. “I’m sick of being cooped up in here. And it smells in here, but nobody else seems to care about it much, y’know? I suppose you don’t either.” He looked grumpy about this.  
Remus did know, all too well. The others may not have been able to pick it up, but with his heightened werewolf senses it was too obnoxious to ignore. St Mungo’s smelt like death and illness. It was horrible.  
Remus shrugged, not sure how to reply, “I’m sure they’ll let you out soon.”  
“That’s probably worse,” Everett muttered and Remus raised and eyebrow. The man stared at him and sighed. “You know why I’m in here, don’t you?”  
“Of course,” Remus said, sadly, “you were bitten.”  
“Stop pitying me,” Everett snapped angrily, “I don’t want your pity. Everyone does it. That or gives me a very wide berth. People hate werewolves, y’know?” Remus held back a snort of laughter, deeming it to be an inappropriate action. Instead he just shrugged.  
“I’m not pitying you. It’s just sad.”  
“Yeah,” Everett deadpanned, “just tear-jerking.”  
This time Remus couldn’t hold back his snort and Everett looked up at him, before giving him a small smile. Remus deduced this to be a victory, however tiny it may have been.  
“It’s a nightmare, honestly,” Everett said, sounding like Remus when he was much younger. In face, Remus could almost remember saying those exact words to the other three years ago in their dormitory.  
It’s a nightmare, honestly! The way Madam Pomfrey and the teachers keep looking at me, it’s like I’m dying! I just want to do my work, how am I supposed to perform well when they’re all sweeping around pitying me like some species of giant compassion bats!  
Remus sighed slightly as Everett continued on his small vent to the almost-stranger. Remus thought that the man must not have had a whole lot of visitors, or he probably wouldn’t have been ranting about his recent downgrading in the Wizarding Community to a complete stranger.  
“The nurses all look at me like I’m dying! I can’t stand it. And nobody knows anything about werewolves and lycanthropy. I don’t know what’s going on at all. I’m so sick of it. And the looks some of the staff give me - they’re supposed to be healers. That’s their job. Why would they pick it when they know they’d have to deal with this sort of stuff? Absolutely ridiculous.”  
Remus grinned down at him and Everett looked up at him. “Are you laughing at me?”  
“Not at all,” Remus said quickly, though the smile remained on his face, “you just remind me of someone.”  
Everett gave him a calculating look before letting out a low breath, “I don’t really know what I’m going to do though. I used to be an Auror but there’s no way…” He trailed off and once again, Remus couldn’t help but to feel sorry for him.  
“I’m sorry. But it could be a lot worse. You obviously have education and experience and some money at least, if you were an Auror. You can probably get the Wolfsbane Potion-” He cut off as he glanced the look on Everett’s face. The man looked livid.  
“Could be worse?” He hissed, “I got bitten by a werewolf for fucks sake! I’m a social outcast. I don’t even know why you’re speaking to me, nobody else really does. I probably don’t have a job, nobody will care about me, I’ll be shunned from society. What the hell do you know? How exactly could it be worse?”  
Remus stared calculatingly at him, not phased by his outburst. He understood all the bitter feelings that the man was harbouring and he realised that contradicting him would probably just make it worse. He shrugged slightly.  
“I just meant that there are a lot of other werewolves and magical creatures who have it worse off than you,” Remus said, “which is the complete truth. No need to snap.”  
Everett glared at him, “why are you still here, anyway? Aren’t you afraid of me?”  
“Why would I be?” Remus asked and Everett gaped at him slightly.  
“I am a werewolf,” the man said, over-pronunciating every word and Remus smirked at him, rolling his eyes.  
“So am I,” he said, slightly amused. Everett’s lips fell into a perfect round ‘O’ that was almost comical and opened and shut his mouth a few times like a goldfish. Remus tried not to laugh.  
“You’re a werewolf?” Everett choked out finally and Remus nodded.  
“I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me, honestly, most people have.” It might have sounded like boasting if it had come from anyone but him.  
“I just…Arthur said, but…” He trailed off again before formulating a new question, “why has everyone heard of you?” The man looked genuinely curious.  
Remus waved his hand airily. “Just some business with old grudges and forgotten potions and such,” he explained vaguely and Everett looked even more confused than before. “Suffice to say, it’s lead to a particularly frustrating and powerful woman to enforce more than a few laws about hiring people inflicted with lycanthropy. Goodness what I wouldn’t give to hex that toad.” He seemed to realise he’d spoken the last part allowed and covered his mouth, though he couldn’t hide the smile that came over his face when he saw the grin on Everett’s. He was never usually crass around anyone but Sirius, who’d known him for far too long to make judgements. When he got angry around other people it just fueled their hatred towards him, giving them more proof that werewolves were terrible creatures who deserved to be killed.  
“Dolores Umbridge?” Everett inquired slyly, though it sounded more of a statement than a question. Remus started slightly. Obviously Everett would have known Umbridge if he worked at the Ministry before he was here, but Remus hadn’t really said anything that would outwardly divulge it was that she-beast he was talking about. He nodded curtly.  
“How did you-?”  
“I’m not her biggest fan, to be honest. She likes to campaign pretty hard against Muggle-borns and she’s tried to get me thrown out of the Auror office several times because I’m not worthy. It’s all some stupid superiority complex. Although now she’s at Hogwarts, which is undeniably a terrible thing.”  
“You’re a Muggle-born?” Remus asked, slightly surprised.  
“Does that bother you?” Everett asked and Remus shook his head with a laugh.  
“Of course not,” he replied, “I can hardly afford to be prejudiced and I wouldn’t if I could. One of my best friends is-” He stopped as Lily’s smiling face danced through his mind, her red hair flying as she danced around the living room, baby Harry in her arms, and corrected himself “-was a Muggle-born. She was the most amazing woman I’ve ever met…” He could almost convince himself that he was telling the truth as he squashed down a memory of the pink-haired Auror, a mischievous grin on her face.  
“How old were you?” Everett blurted out and Remus jumped a little, snapping out of his reverie.  
“Pardon?” He said distractedly and the other man blushed slightly, replying in a somewhat subdued voice.  
“When you were bitten, how old were you?”  
Remus stared at him for a long time before answering truthfully. “I was four. It was just before my fifth birthday.”  
Everett didn’t move for a long time. “I’m sorry,” he finally said and Remus smiled, shaking his head.  
“Not your fault. I don’t actually remember not being a werewolf, so I guess that makes you worse off in a way.”  
Everett shrugged, “can you tell me about it?”  
“Being bitten?” Remus questioned incredulously and Everett shook his head quickly.  
“Oh no, Merlin, no. I never want to think about that again. Can you tell me what it’s like to be a werewolf? I mean-” he gestured half-heartedly at a few werewolf-centred books stacked on his bedside “-these are all about as helpful as Doxy piss when it comes to actually being a werewolf. All they do is tell you how to kill them and how-”  
“We’re a danger to society. Right,” Remus said with a slight smirk. “I had to study those at school, would you believe it? Absolute nightmare. I never got more detentions for cheeking the teacher.” He grinned to himself as he remembered it. Everett looked slightly confused.  
“You went to school? But…how?”  
“Dumbledore,” Remus said with a shrug, not elaborating and quickly changing the subject so as to skip around the careful topic of being illegally unregistered for his entire schooling life. “You want to know what it’s like to be a werewolf?” He thought for a moment, before decided to just be blunt. “Tiring. You’re essentially perpetually sick and the whole week around the full moon is awful. It’s not easy.”  
Everett paled slightly.  
“But it’s bearable,” Remus said with a slightly whimsical smile, “I’ve been a werewolf for around thirty years and I’m still fine. It takes its toll and a lot of people would rather die than live like this. But…”  
He trailed off, looking over at Molly and Arthur with Moody. Sirius’s face swum before his own along with Dumbledore and his father and Harry, the spitting image of James, him casting the Patronus and Prongs cantering out towards the hooded figures. Tonks, with her bubblegum pink hair and cheeky grin. Tonks being clumsy as all hell and the warmth that spread through him whenever she knocked over the umbrella stand, signalling her arrival and setting off the old hag. Tonks who always joked around with him and the others in the Order. Tonks who was perfect and wonderful and perfect and amazing. Tonks…  
“But there’s a lot to live for,” Remus smiled, “so it might suck, but don’t give up because there’s always something to live for. Always.”  
Everett stared at him for a long moment before snorting something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like ‘love’.  
“Sentimental much?” He asked and Remus grinned.  
“Oh, I’m a real poet. I could rival Shakespeare.”  
“You know Shakespeare?”  
Remus scoffed, “do I know Shakespeare? Honestly if Snuffles heard…” He shook his head, imagining Sirius on one of his constant rants about Remus’s bookwormish attitude. Honestly Remus, you’ve had twelve years alone to read, put the bloody book down and feed Buckbeak with me!  
“Remus, we’re leaving,” Molly said and Remus turned to see the fiery redhead at the end of the bed, glaring at the floor. Moody was standing beside her, slight amusement in his features.  
“Right,” Remus said, getting to his feet and smiling down at Everett.  
“Keep in touch, hey? I don’t have a lot of werewolf buddies.”  
“Yes, we could start a pack,” Everett said and they both looked at each other for a moment before snorting with laughter. “I’ll just tell my owl to take it to Remus Lupin, right?”  
Remus nodded, “see you.”  
“Bye,” Everett said and Remus followed the still-angry Molly and the grinning Moody out of the room. He smiled to himself as the newly bitten werewolf’s words bounced around his head. We could start a pack. Snorting again, he skipped a little to catch up with the two, Molly going on about Arthur and his silly muggle contraptions. Well, he thought, one certainly couldn’t say it hadn’t been an interesting day.


End file.
